When Bill Russell retired in 1969, his departure signaled the end of the Boston Celtics dynasty. The Celts, with Russell in the middle, had won 11 NBA championships in 13 years, but as the 1969-70 season opened so did the door for a new champion. Some felt the L.A. Lakers, with their superstar triumvirate of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain would claim the title. Others picked the high-scoring Baltimore Bullets or the balanced and deep Atlanta Hawks. And there were even a few people who picked the New York Knicks. The Knicks? Weren't they the team that had never won an NBA title, despite being an original franchise when the league began play in 1946? They were, indeed, but in the fall of 1969 the Knicks put a different kind of team on the floor, one they had been building for years. Center Willis Reed and guard Walt "Clyde" Frazier were the New Yorker's two best players, but it was a trade with Detroit the season before that gave Coach Red Holzman the kind of team he wanted by bringing hardworking forward Dave DeBusschere into the fold. Former Princeton All-American Bill Bradley and veteran guard Dick Barnett completed the starting five. A strong bench and the defensive minded Holzman were the other elements that allowed it to work. The old-school Holzman made defense a byword, imploring his players to see the ball, and on offense to hit the open man. With five starters playing as one, and a solid bench behind them, the Knicks unveiled the kind of team basketball that hadn't been seen in years. Playing unselfishly from the start, they ran off a record 18-game win streak and took it from there, showing the basketball world how teamwork and defense could win. Tales from the 1969-70 New York Knicks is the story of a group of individuals and a coach who created a magical season for New York fans that is still remembered today. The Knicks won it all, but not without sacrifice, struggle and a moment of high drama that is perhaps unmatched in NBA annals.
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The Boston Celtics of the Bill Russell era were one of the greatest dynasties in sports history. During the thirteen years that Hall of Fame center Russell dominated the court, the Celtics won eleven world championships, including an unprecedented eight straight between 1959 and 1966. In the 1968-69 season, the aging and injury-riddled team finished in fourth place during the regular season, and sportswriters predicted an early defeat in the playoffs. Against all odds, player-coach Russell and his squad rallied to beat the heavily-favored Philadelphia '76ers and New York Knicks, and captured the championship crown in a dramatic upset of Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and the Los Angeles Lakers in the closing seconds of the final game of the series. The following summer, Russell stunned the sports world by announcing his retirement, ending his and the Celtics' celebrated reign. In this vivid and lively account, Thomas J. Whalen chronicles Russell's memorable last season and the Celtics' dazzling triumph. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous 1960s and Boston's own turbulent and bitter struggles with race, he tells the fascinating story of how an improbable championship team overcame poor health, indifferent fans, disruptive personnel changes, and internal morale problems. Whalen recounts how Russell transformed the game of basketball during his remarkable career and revisits the outspoken superstar's conflicted relationship with Boston. He also tells why the Celtics, the first team to break several NBA color lines, failed to attract a loyal following among the city's largely white sports fanatics and press corps. Brimming with such Celtics and NBA legends as Red Auerbach, Walter Brown, Johnny Most, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Tom "Satch" Sanders, Tom Heinsohn, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, and Bill Bradley, this thoroughly engaging and insightful work will appeal to historians and sports buffs alike.
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Presenting court activities and drills, this book shows how to devise a specific programme to enhance players' athletic abilities - speed, power, endurance, agility, co-ordination, balance and reaction time. The drills are designed to fit into a basketball practice routine, so players can work on conditioning and basketball skills at the same time. As players' athletic skills improve, so will their ballhandling, shooting, rebounding and defence. The book features the principles and specific fitness requirements for basketball conditioning; recommendations on strength training for basketball players; and guidelines and charts for developing a personalized strength-training programme. It also contains 15 flexibility exercises to help improve performance, avoid injury and enhance workouts; 9 exercises to enhance the "centre of power" and abdominal and lower back strength; 9 movement patterns to improve agility, co-ordination and speed for basketball; 11 fitness tests to determine individual training needs; 50 illustrated individual, small group, and court team drills with variations; and 12 detailed sample workouts for pre-season, in-season, and off-season. The conditioning programme is easy to follow, containing diagrams of all 50 court drills, and the book features photographs of veteran NBA guard Doc Rivers, demonstrating the techniques and exercises described in the book.
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The popular college basketball lead analyst for ESPN recounts his quarter of a century with the network and the many great players, coaches, and moments he's covered in the process.
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Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year At the age of 52, a British writer gets the sudden call-up to play for the England soccer team in the World Cup competition. The team can’t find a goalkeeper and he’s going to have to come out of retirement. No it’s not a nightmare. The team is the England Writers XI, a chronically-unskilled collection of scribblers who can’t let go of their fantasies about being real footballers. Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular is a riotous footballing memoir about the loneliest position on the field, looking back on schoolboy triumphs and adult ignominy. From the chaos of coats-down park soccer mobs to the casual violence of pub teams, from the excitement of schoolboy shield winners to knackered old World Cup squads, it’s the goalie who always gets it in the neck. Every goalkeeper—and every goalkeeper’s wife or girlfriend—should read this book.
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Award-winning sports columnist Jim Patton went in search of the world's most famous minor-leaguer, and along the way discovered the joys of minor league ball, the beauty of the deep South, and what Michael Jordan's first year in baseball teaches us all about our long infatuation with sports heroes.
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Manchester United Ruined My Wife, the hilarious tale of a life-long United supporter and the way his obsession affected his wife and daughters, one of whom grew up to be an international pop star, was first published in 2004 selling over 10,000 copies. This new, updated edition brings the tale from the tragedy of Munich up to the triumph of Moscow, including the protracted sale to American owners, the rise and rise of FC United of Manchester and finally the double whammy of United's 17th league title and the agony and ecstasy of Russian penalty roulette in Moscow. How can a man love one woman, when he is in love with eleven men? When people get married it is "Till death do us part," yet, for almost 40% of the population, marriage ends in divorce. But, when you fall truly, madly, deeply in love with your football team there is no divorce; you do not stray. Your team is the one constant, consistent, permanent, overwhelming obsession in your life. Rarely has a book been written that so painfully yet humorously conveys the all-consuming red-hot passion, joy and despair felt by the vast majority of football fans. With highs so intense it reduces sex to mere skin rubbing, David Blatt puts wives in their rightful place on the substitutes bench as he takes the reader on a journey through his United-watching adventures, from the Busby Babes via the 1968 European Cup final, relegation, promotion, the wilderness years of the 70s and 80s, a first Championship in 26 years and the glorious 1999 treble, which culminated in the unforgettable Champions League triumph in Barcelona. It is a tale that millions of so-called "ordinary" football fans can relate to. After all, how can kissing girls compete with getting up at 5am for a 400 mile round trip for home games?
Price : $94.84
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